A little over a year ago, I started feeling confident enough about my work with STEM in a primary classroom, to venture into creating resources. Right around that time I met a wonderful character named Rosie.
You might know her as Rosie Revere Engineer written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. This book set me on the road to creating STEM (actually STREAM) book companions. Andrea Beaty's message in Rosie Revere is so poignant (in fact, I loved it so much I quoted it in my Teacher of the Year essay) and I wanted to create a resource that helped students dig into the text to pull out this message and then apply it as they participated in a STEM challenge.
....and most recently I was able to make the acquaintance of another classmate, Ada Twist Scientist!
This summer I was inspired to create several other companions for stories with equally as impactful meanings. I opt for stories with a meaningful message over shallow, gimmicky storybooks. Even if you don't purchase or use the STEM companions I've created for these storybooks, I'd suggest adding any or all of them to your classroom library because they are simply lovely!
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is the perfect STEM challenge for the Thanksgiving holidays. This is the true story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer responsible for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love that this story presents the idea of improving upon successes to make them even better. I also love that it's not your typical Thanksgiving holiday activity!
Mr. Ferris and His Wheel is the captivating, fact-filled storybook by Kathryn Gibbs Davis. This story illustrates an engineers motivation, dedication, and drive to make his vision a reality!
Click here to see it on Amazon! (April Jones Prince)
Click here to see it on Amazon! (Phil Bildner)
Twenty-One Elephants is the story of P.T. Barnum marching his elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge shortly after it was built to prove it's stability to doubtful New Yorkers.
Happy Birthday Madame Chapeau is another lovely story by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts. In this challenge students will design and create a birthday hat for Madame Chapeau! Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with Andrea Beaty and David Roberts?!
Over the next year I plan to complete STEM book companions and challenges for:
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis:
Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis:
Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming:
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara:
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires:
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